John Curran
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 3, 2007

SACHS HARBOUR - Life in the northern-most NWT community of Sachs Harbour paused two-weeks-ago as residents and well-wishers gathered on Nov. 21 to remember the life of elder Sarah Kuptana.

Kuptana, who died in Inuvik at the age of 85, was born and spent most of her early years on the land around Victoria Island.

Kuptana was born Sarah Kogoatuk and as a baby she was adopted by her aunt and uncle who taught her the skills of living on the land - which at the time was not common for girls.

In 1942, Sarah married William Kuptana at Umingmaktuuq, near Walker Bay, as promised by her father John Koadlak.

They travelled inland to hunt and trap and were blessed with their first child, Robert, in 1943.

Soon after, Sarah became ill with tuberculosis and they travelled by mission boat to Tuktoyaktuk and on to Aklavik on the "Blue Fox" with Noah Elias to get Sarah to the hospital.

She was later sent to Edmonton where she spent five years laying in a hospital bed.

Doctors there sent a telegram to William telling him Sarah had three months to live. Sarah defied their words for 65 years.

Soon after her return, William became ill with tuberculosis and was sent to Edmonton. In the end Sarah and William were apart for about seven years.

When he finally returned, they moved back to Walker Bay and later had two more children - Roger and RoseMarie.

In 1955, the family moved to Sachs Harbour where she lived until August 2006.

Her husband passed away in 1992.

Her younger sister Lena Wolki said although there were 19 years between them, they got to know each other well when she herself was in her teens.

"She was a hunter and a trapper," she said. "She spent lots of time out on the land."

Wolki remembered she was just one year old when Kuptana left for her new life with her husband.

She said her sister used to joke with her that even though she could do many things, she never got the hang of knitting.

"She'd always give me a hard time and say 'How'd you learn that?' and 'Where'd you ever pick that up?' or things like that," she said, chuckling. "I was the only one of the four of us sisters who learned how to knit."

Sarah Kuptana may not have been a knitter, but she was very skilled at making handicrafts, parkas, mukluks and mitts as well as working with furs and tanning hides.

She became an icon with her work and today both the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., have her creations on display.

The community held a funeral during the afternoon and a feast in the evening to celebrate her life - something Wolki said her sister certainly would have appreciated.

"There was so much, everyone cooked a lot," she said. "Sarah used to love eating all kinds of Northern foods, especially geese."

A number of people also travelled to the community to join in remembering such a beloved elder.

"We're doing OK now but it was a very long day talking to so many wonderful people," said Wolki. "Me and my nephew Robert fell asleep on the couch and in the armchair last night - we were just so worn out."

For Sarah Kuptana's other son Roger and daughter Rosemarie, the outpouring of support was also a little overwhelming.

"We had a pretty tiring time yesterday," he said the day after the gatherings.

In the end, he summed up his emotions in a way that someone like his mother, who was always so in tune with nature and the traditional Inuvialuit ways of life, would perhaps appreciate most.

"This is all part of life."

- with files from the Kuptana family